How It Should Have Ended
by fangirlamanda
Summary: "Despite what you may think, you are wanted and needed by so many people, and Em," Aaron sighed. "You are so, so loved, and I refuse to let some deadbeat scumbag make you think otherwise." This is me, trying to fix the absolute disaster of an episode that the writers created. Fix-It Fic for Episode 2x06


**A/N: I know this is a day or two late, but I just had to contribute to the Fix-It fics for episode 6. It was probably the worst one out of both seasons, and the ending was fucking outrageous. It's pretty obvious how awful it must've been when there are four fics written just to fix that one scene, two of which were written by people who had been inactive for months. Anyways, mine isn't going to just cover that one scene, it's going to cover all of the ones with Seth and Emily, except this time it's Aaron, as it should be.**

"Em? You okay?" asked a voice that sounded far away. However, the voice snapped her out of her daze to realize that its owner was only sitting five feet from her. Aaron.

"Huh? I'm sorry, what?" she replied, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to remember what they'd been talking about.

"Are you okay? I don't think I've ever seen you like this,"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just the combination of stress and lack of sleep is all."

That was a lie and of course, Aaron Shore saw straight through her, as always.

"Mhm," he nodded. "Would you like to stick by that excuse or tell me what's really going on?"

"I'm supposed to have lunch with my dad," she explained.

"Okay, you've never mentioned him,"

"That's because I haven't seen him since he walked out on my mother and me," she sighed. "23 years ago,"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know,"

"It's okay. It's just, he's been in town all weekend and I've been putting him off, but he leaves tonight, so,"

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, part of me wants to see him so I can plunge a knife into his heart,"

Aaron was silent for a moment. Emily wasn't a violent person, but the pain her father had caused her over all these years made her lose all sense of mercy.

"Yeah, that's probably not the best idea."

"The other part of me thinks that if I let him go, I'll be closing the door on him forever,"

"Well," he said, standing up. "I have a meeting to get to, but the only advice I can think of is that you should go in there and prove to him how stupid he was for walking out on you. Show him what he missed."

Aaron's put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly before leaving. The pain of their unrequited love was slowly creeping up behind her, but she had too much going on to think about it. So once again, she took a deep breath and pushed the emotions to the back of her mind.

* * *

Emily returned to her office later that day to find something that made her blink twice: Aaron having a conversation with her dad.

Aaron was incredibly charismatic, and he was great at making conversation with just about anyone, but the fire in his eyes when Emily had told him what he'd done was unmistakable. She thought he'd try to avoid him at least, but here he was, making dynamic conversation.

"I hate to interrupt but Aaron, the president needs to see you," she told them.

"Right," he said, the ending of the word drawn out. "It was nice talking to you,"

"As were you," he said, turning to Emily after he left.

"That's a nice guy," her father gawked quietly, earning a smirking nod from Emily. "Smart too,"

He didn't know the half of it.

* * *

It was official. _This had been Emily's worst day at the White House._

God, she'd been so stupid. To think that her father actually wanted a relationship after 23 years of not giving a shit about her.

She'd been lucky to have such amazing co-workers who cared about her so much. Lyor had brought her kombucha, and Seth had gotten her enough food to last her three days. Then there was Aaron.

There was a knock at her door while she sat at the table, making a futile attempt at getting some work done.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she replied, with a forced, tight-lipped smile.

"You okay?" he asked, she could tell by the look on his face that he already knew the answer to the question.

"No," she admitted, her voice breaking as tears welled in her eyes. She clamped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to fight the sobs about to wrack her body. Her attempt was futile.

Aaron walked over and gathered her into his arms. They were strong around her as she gripped the fabric of his shirt. He was warm, and he made her feel a way that she hadn't felt in a long time. Aaron made her feel safe, happy, and like she wasn't alone. He didn't say anything at first, just holding her and allowing her to let it all out.

"He didn't want me, Aaron," she sobbed. "He just wanted the White House,"

"I know, I know," he consoled her, kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back.

"I was so stupid, to think that he actually cared about me,"

"Hey, hey," he demanded, quietly, taking her face in his hands. "You are anything but stupid."

"Then why do I feel that way?" she asked, noticing the pathetic misery in her voice.

Aaron paused for a moment, before recapturing her attention.

"Look at me," he said sternly, his voice still soft, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "Emily Rhodes, you are quite possibly one of the greatest things to ever happen to this Earth, and just because that asshole can't see it doesn't mean me and rest of the people around here don't. Despite what you may think, you are wanted and needed by so many people, and Em," Aaron sighed. "You are so, so loved, and I refuse to let some deadbeat scumbag make you think otherwise."

Emily would be lying if she said that all those years of abandonment hadn't made her feel insignificant at times, because if her own father didn't even care about her, _why would anybody else?_ She had been feeling it more than ever when she'd found out his true motives, but Aaron had dispelled any inkling of doubt she'd had with his words.

The corners of her mouth turned upwards as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"You're smiling because you know I'm right," he told her.

This time, her smile was real, and her lip quivered due to all the emotions that his confession had caused.

"I love you," she confessed softly, her voice nearly a whisper.

"What?" he asked, his voice as hushed as hers was.

"I love you, Aaron,"

She brought her hand up and rested it over his, which was cupping her face, before leaning in and brushing her lips against his. That was as far as she got before he stopped her.

"Em," he sighed, with a look of doubt and sadness in his eyes. "You're vulnerable,"

"Maybe I am, but that's not why I did that," she told him. "I really do love you, Aaron,"

"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"100 percent,"

"Well, in that case," he began before dropping the hand that wasn't covered by hers down to her waist, and gently pulling her closer as he pressed his lips to hers.

God, she'd missed that feeling, and it was intensified exponentially by the way that he kissed her. Gently, slowly, with his arms around her, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in the entire world to him. And maybe… _she was._

 ** _A/N2: Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you thought!_**


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